MN Legislative Audit Commission hears from MN DEED and MN Office of Broadband Development

Last week, the MN Legislative Audit Commission heard from MN DEED about their 2025 Evaluation report, which included information on MN Office of Broadband Development (OBD) grants in 2024.

Report overall summary:

Broadband grantees largely met the goals we reviewed. In contrast, the workforce grant programs lack goals, and the performance metrics DEED is statutorily required to report are unhelpful for measuring program success. Additionally, we found that DEED did not comply with certain grants management policies, including the requirement to withhold grant payments for grantees with past-due progress reports. We offer recommendations to DEED and the Legislature to strengthen DEED’s management of grant programs.

More specifics on the Office of Broadband Development (OBD)…

All broadband grantees in our review built broadband infrastructure that met goals outlined in the grant contracts.

For the grants in our review, Connected Nation or DEED validated that all 20 of the broadband grantees met the goal for the total number of locations or area they agreed to serve in the grant contract.26 In total, the broadband grantees in our review agreed to build broadband infrastructure to support 3,002 locations. Most of the broadband grantees reported meeting or exceeding the goal number of locations. Exhibit 2.11 shows the number of locations grantees in our review reported serving.

Exhibit 2.11

Most broadband grantees reported meeting or exceeding the goal number of locations for the grants in our review.

The grant files also showed that all 20 of the broadband grantees built infrastructure capable of providing broadband service that met or exceeded the relevant state broadband speed goals specified in contracts. In addition, most of the broadband grantees successfully completed their projects within the original timeframes specified in the grant contracts.

Three grantees successfully requested extensions for various reasons, such as supply chain challenges, permitting delays, and poor weather conditions.

And here are the PPTs shared with the MN Legislative Audit Commission last week…